The UN Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) urged New Zealand on Thursday to take stronger action to reduce its rising prison population and better support its independent monitoring mechanism following a trip to the country. Aisha Shujune Muhammad, head of the SPT delegation, cautioned that prison population forecasts in New Zealand over the next [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the sentencing of Belarusian journalist Ihar Ilyash to four years in prison and a fine of 4,200 rubles (about US$1,240), handed down by the Minsk City Court on September 16, on charges including promoting “extremist activities” and “discrediting the Republic of Belarus.” The sentencing follows a [...]

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Thursday celebrated the release of at least eight Belarusian journalists, part of a group of 52 political prisoners freed as the US eased sanctions on Belarus’ state airline Belavia. Gulnoza Said, CPJ’s Europe and Central Asia program coordinator, shared a statement on the release: CPJ celebrates that at [...]

US President Donald Trump’s administration on Wednesday asked a federal appeals court to remove Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook from the central bank’s board by Monday, ahead of next week’s critical interest rate meeting. In an emergency motion filed late Wednesday, government lawyers urged the appeals court to stay US District Court Judge Jia Cobb’s [...]

Italy’s Constitutional Court ruled on Thursday that both members of a same-sex female couple can be recognized as legal parents of a child born in Italy through medically assisted reproduction conducted abroad. The court held in its Sentenza n. 68/2025 that Article 8 of Law No. 40/2004 is unconstitutional insofar as it does not allow [...]

Watchdog group American Oversight filed a lawsuit on Monday against the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the US Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Education, alleging that President Donald Trump’s administration unlawfully targeted Harvard University’s tax-exempt status for political retaliation. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, seeks [...]

The Iranian authorities are set to carry out finger amputation sentences against three prisoners as early as April 11, Amnesty International warned Friday. The rights group stated that amputation sentences, amounting to torture, and the denial of legal representation are violations of international law. Iranian authorities have informed the men — Hadi Rostami, Mehdi Sharifian [...]

UN officials called for an immediate ceasefire in Myanmar on Monday, three days after two powerful earthquakes struck the country, killing approximately 2,000 people and overwhelming the already fragile infrastructure. UN Humanitarian and Resident Coordinator Marcoluigi Corsi issued a statement on behalf of the UN Country Team, expressing condolences to the victims and underscoring the [...]

An adviser to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday backed WhatsApp in its legal battle with the European Data Protection Board (EDPB), suggesting the media company’s challenge against the privacy watchdog should proceed. The opinion could open the door for companies to more directly contest decisions by the EDPB. Advocate General [...]

The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) condemned Thursday the rising civilian death toll in Sudan. The statement follows the intensified fighting between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in Khartoum and beyond. The statement indicated that both parties disregarded international humanitarian law in and around Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. [...]